Improvement in steam water-elevators



UNITED STATES- PATENT EETcE EUGENE C. PILUMER, OF OOLUMIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM WATER-ELEVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 212,978, dated March 4, 1879 application led January 11, 1879.

To all 'whom fit 'may conce/raf` Be it known that 1,7E. C. PLUMER, of Columbia, in the county of Richland and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Steam Water-Elevators; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, referin means for supplying feed-water to locomotive-engines.

The object of the invention is to dispense with raised tanks, the lifting-pumps in common use, and the necessary attendants, and to substitute therefor devices, substantially as hereinafter set forth, which will supply water to the tenders from wells byV utilizing the steam from the locomotiveboilerand atmospheric pressure, thus securing a great saving in expense and labor.

The nature of the invention consists in certain novel combinations of mechanical devices, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

vIn the annexed drawings, the letter A designates an ordinary cylinder arranged in a well, cistern, or other reservoir a sufficient distance below the surface of the soil to be beyond the4 reach of frost. Usually the cylinder will be made up of connected sections a, of short length, and it will be closed at top and bottom by the usual heads. B indicates an induct-pipe reaching down into the water and opening into the cylinder near its lower end. This pipe is provided with a valve opening upward. B indicates an educt-pipe also opening into the lower part of the cylinder, and, extending upward, leading into a horizontal pipe, C, having at one or both ends an erect pipe, O, to the upper ends of which are applied the spout-pipes O2. These are swiveled to the upper ends of pipes O1, so as to have free horizontal vibration, by which they may be adjusted to the well-hole ofthe tender. Within the cylinder is a packed piston, D, having the usual rod D1, that extends through an ordinary stuffing-box 'in the upper head of the cylinder, as shown inFi g. 1. The rod Dl is tubular, and it extends through the head D. It is provided at its upper end with a cock, b, the object of which will be hereinafter set forth. l

The cylinder A is covered in at its upper end by the curb D2, that is supported by suitable beams extending across the well or cistern, and upon which is erected a derrick, F, composed of uprights c and a platform, c', usually of iron. The platform is slotted, as shown at d, and a frame, d1, carrying the pul.- leys d2 d3, is secured to said platform by means of a nut, e, applied upon the screw-f threaded end of a tang, el, of said frame, extending through the slot d. V capable of being adjusted so as to bring the prolongation of the piston-rod tangential to the inner pulley, d2. A strong chain, G,y passes over these pulleys and is rigidly secured at one end to the said rod, and carries upon its other end a weight or weights, G1, that counterbalance the piston and rod. The steamspace of the locomotive-boiler'is connected to a xed pipe, G2, leading into the upper end of the cylinder or barrel A by a flexible pipe, usually carried as a fixture by the engine, and this pipe G2 being opened by turning a cock, c, steam rushes into the cylinder above its piston, and by forcing-'it down expels all air from the chamber X, below said piston, out of the educt-pipe, and its cpnnections, the said pipe being provided with a valve for the purpose, which opens outward. Steam is regulated automaticallyby means of a valve, f, in pipe G2, and cut offby cock e3, and ex-` hausted therefrom in like manner througha pipe, f, at the upper end of the cylinder through a valve, f3.

A vacuum is thus created in the upper chamber, causing the piston to rise and draw up water until the cylinder is filled, the valve in the educt having closed as the piston rises, and the cocke'v being closed by hand. This cock is again opened, steam rushes into the cylinder, and (the valve in the induct being closed, that in the educt being opened, and

The frame is thus that in the exhaust-pipe closed) the .water is forced through the educt and its connections into the tender.

The valve fof the pipe G2 is opened and closed as follows: It is provided with a stem, g, having on its end a crank-arm, gl, that is tlexihly connected to a vertically-vibrating lever, G3, by means of a link, g2. This lever is carried across a small cylinder, H, in the upper head of the main cylinder, and its free end is fulcrumed in a bracket, g3, at the farther side of said cylinder H. This cylinder has a piston of the supercial area of an inch or more, and its rod passes under and straddles the lever G, which is provided with an adjustable weight, g4. When steam is passed into the cylinder and overbalances weight g, the head in cylinder H rises, raises the said lever, and closes valve f, through the medium of the link g2 and the arm on the end of .the va-lve-stem. As the pressure in the cylinder falls a reverse movement of the lever is had, and valve j' again opened, and steam readmitted to the barrel A. By this means a regular pressure is maintained in the cylinder, which may be increased or diminished by shifting the weight g4 farther from or nearer to the small cylinder H.

The valve of the exhanst-pipefl has a stem, h, to which is attached a cross-arm, hl, one end of which is forked, and the other engages a crank-arm, h3, on the end of the stem l of a valve, Z2, placed in an escape-pipe, I, leading from the horizontal pipe C, on which are the spout -pipes aforesaid. The cross-arm h1 is raised or lowered automatically, thus opening or closing the valves of the escape and eX- haust pipes simultaneously, by means of a chain, J, secured at one end to an arm, j, projecting horizontally from the piston-rod of the main cylinder, passing upward over a pulley, k, on the derrick, thence downward between the fork of arm h1, and through a guide, k1, down into the well. 1t is provided at its lower end with a weight, 7a2, and with a conical shouldered catch, Z4. When steam is let on by turning cock c3, it forces the piston down to the bottom of the cylinder, chain J is drawn over pulley L', and the shoulder of the catch comes in contact with the forked end of the arm h1, raising it up and opening` the exhaust-pipe and waste,simultaneously. Steam rushes out of the former, the cock e3 being closed by the brakeman, and creates a vacuum above the piston, which necessarily rises and draws up a fresh charge of water, this result being accelerated by the couuterbalancingweight G1. During the descent of the piston the water below it is forced through the educt and its connections into the tender.

The steam-exhaust pipe f1 extends to a condensing apparatus, L, in the well. This is composed of two independent chests or vessels, M M', communicating with each other only through a pipe, N, forming a water-seal.

The pipe N is connected, by a short tube, Z, with a cut-oft device consisting of a cylinder, N', closed at each end, and opening by a short connection into chest M', and provided above and below the opening with the valveseats a a', respectively, and of an endwisemovable rod, o, having the collars t' z", acting as valves, in connection with the valve-seats u a', respectively.

The end of rod o bears against the under side of a vertically-vibrating lever, O, fulcrumed on the water-seal pipe N, and having on its other end a plunger, p, that extends down a tube, O', opening` into the chest M, and having above said opening a seat, p', upon which the collar q on said plunger rests, actin g as a valve.

The chest M is provided with a suitable vent and chest, M', with a trough, P, at its top; or it may have a water-jacket instead.

The operation of thecondenser is as follows The eXhauststea1n rushes into the chest M' and the waste water into the trough P at the same time through the simultaneous opening of the valves of the exhaust and waste7 pipes. The steam is here rapidly condensed, and` the water is forced through the cut-oft' and the water-seal pipe N into chest M as long as the pressure of steam in chest M exceeds the atmospheric pressure in chest M, the valve i' being against the upper seat, n. The moment this ceases to be the case, atmospheric pressure, acting through the chest M, the water-seal pipe, and the connection thereof with the cut-off, forces valve i upo the lower seat, allows the lever O, the free end of which is weighted, to vibrate, raises valve g oftl its seat, and allows the water of condenf sation to ilow out of tube Ol back to the well.` As the pist-ou descends any body of air below it will pass upward through the hollow piston-rod if the valve at its upper end be opened; but this feature is only useful at the commencement of work, and is not deeniedindispensable.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an apparatus for supplying feed-water to engines, the combination, with a cylinder, A, having the valved induct and educt pipes B B', the piston D, and rod-D1, of a curb, D2, surrounding said cylinder, a derrick erected thereon, the pulleys d d3, a chain, G, secured to the end of the piston-rod, passing over the pulleys, and carrying a counterbalancingweight, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with a cylinder, A, having a valved induct and educt and a counterbalanced piston, of a pipe opening into said cylinder above the pistou, and leading to the steam-space of a boiler, and avalved exhaustpipe leading from the upper part of said cylinder into a condenser, all constructed and arranged substantially as shown and specified.

3. The combination, with the cylinder A, having steam-pipe G2, leading to the steamspace of a boiler, and a valve, f, in said pipe provided with a stem, g, and an arm, g1, of a cylinder, H, in the top of the main cylinder,

its piston and rod, a lever, G3, eXtendin g across said cylinder and engaging the said rod, and a link connecting the arm g1 and lever, snb stantially as set forth.

4. The combination, With a cylinder having a connterbalanced piston and a valved pipe leading from said cylinder above the piston to a steam-boiler, of a subsidiary cylinder on top of the main cylinder, its piston and rod, and a vibrating weighted lever operated by the subsidiary cylinder, and controlling' the saidvalve, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the cylinder A, having a counterbalanced piston, a valved steam-pipe, and valved indncts and educts, of an exhanstpipe having a valve, with stein 7L and forked cross-arm hl, and a Waste-pipe, I, opening into the educt, its valve l2, stern l, a crank-arm, h3, on said stem engaging the crossarin h1, the chain J, having shouldered stop l4 and Weight k2, secured at one end to the rod of the cylinder, passing over a raised pulley, 75, and extending down into the Well, substantially as specified. v

6. The condenser L, composed of the independent chests M M', provided, respectively, with a vent and a Water-trough or jacket, the U-shaped pipe N, connecting said hchests, the cylinder N', opening into chest M', and having upper and lower/seats, n n', the rod o, having collars 'i i', the vibrating lever O, rod p, having collar q, tube O', having seat p and opening into chest M, all combined, arranged, and operating as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed rny name in the presence of twowitnesses.

EUGENE C. PLMER. 

